--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: People may be taken in once, who imagine…" description: "\"People may be taken in once, who imagine that an author is greater in private life than other men.\" — Samuel Johnson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/90d/samuel-johnson-50_authorship_people-may-be-taken-in-once-who-imagine_2465823.png" --- # People may be taken in once, who imagine that an author is… ![“People may be taken in once, who imagine that an author is greater in private life than other men.” quote by Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/90d/samuel-johnson-50_authorship_people-may-be-taken-in-once-who-imagine_2465823.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/90d/samuel-johnson-50_authorship_people-may-be-taken-in-once-who-imagine_2465823.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/90d/samuel-johnson-50_authorship_people-may-be-taken-in-once-who-imagine_2465823.png) > “People may be taken in once, who imagine that an author is greater in private life than other men.” [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People often overestimate an author's private virtues based on their public work, assuming personal greatness beyond reality. **In simple terms:** We think writers are better in private than others. Key Takeaway Question assumptions about authors' personal lives. Themes perception literature ego privacy celebrity Mood critical thoughtful Type analytical reflective When to use this quote - book clubs - literary criticism - social media discussions - academic seminars Key Concepts authorial myth public vs private persona Questions to Reflect On - How does fame affect our view of an author's character? - Can we separate art from the artist? A Different Perspective Public persona may not reflect true character. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Authorship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/authorship/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Private life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/private-life/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [Who left nothing of authorship untouched, and touched nothing which he did not adorn. \[Lat., Qui nullum fere scribendi genus non tetigit; nullum quod…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/who-left-nothing-of-authorship-untouched-and-touched-nothing-which-he/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Genius now and then produces a lucky trifle. We still read the Dove of Anacreon, and Sparrow of Catullus; and a writer naturally pleases…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/genius-now-and-then-produces-a-lucky-trifle-we-still-read-the-dove-of/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [There seems to be a strange affectation in authors of appearing to have done everything by chance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/there-seems-to-be-a-strange-affectation-in-authors-of-appearing-to/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [There is nothing more dreadful to an author than neglect; compared with which reproach, hatred, and opposition are names of happiness; yet this worst,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/there-is-nothing-more-dreadful-to-an-author-than-neglect-compared/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [A lot of times naysayers are just people that have not taken the time yet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrett-camp/a-lot-of-times-naysayers-are-just-people-that-have-not-taken-the-time/) Garrett Camp > [People must be taken as they are, and we should never try make them or ourselves better by quarreling with them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/people-must-be-taken-as-they-are-and-we-should-never-try-make-them-or/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [My whole life has been spent with people who have taken every knock in the world. No advantages. Yet they greet you with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-novogratz/my-whole-life-has-been-spent-with-people-who-have-taken-every-knock/) [Jacqueline Novogratz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-novogratz/) > [In everyone's life there are people who stay and people who go and people who are taken against their will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-joy-fowler/in-everyone-s-life-there-are-people-who-stay-and-people-who-go-and/) [Karen Joy Fowler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-joy-fowler/) > [The people are to be taken in very small doses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-people-are-to-be-taken-in-very-small-doses/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [I don't remember taking pictures with eighty percent of the people that I have taken pictures with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lil-peep/i-don-t-remember-taking-pictures-with-eighty-percent-of-the-people/) [Lil Peep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lil-peep/) > [Sometimes people are taken from you for no reason and all you can do about it is be strong and smile for the ones…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/sometimes-people-are-taken-from-you-for-no-reason-and-all-you-can-do/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [“People are only taken seriously as they take themselves.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-stanton-hitchcock/people-are-only-taken-seriously-as-they-take-themselves/) [Jane Stanton Hitchcock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-stanton-hitchcock/) > [This sort of people are so taken up with their theories about the rights of man that they have totally forgotten his nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/this-sort-of-people-are-so-taken-up-with-their-theories-about-the/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [For you to get me to the ground, you have to get a hold of my body, and not many people do that very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-mitrione/for-you-to-get-me-to-the-ground-you-have-to-get-a-hold-of-my-body-and/) [Matt Mitrione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-mitrione/) > [There have been occasions when some people have taken me very seriously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/limmy/there-have-been-occasions-when-some-people-have-taken-me-very/) [Limmy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/limmy/) ## More by Samuel Johnson > [The size of a man's understanding might always be justly measured by his mirth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-size-of-a-man-s-understanding-might-always-be-justly-measured-by/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Pound St. Paul's Church into atoms, and consider any single atom; it is to be sure, good for nothing; but put all these atoms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/pound-st-paul-s-church-into-atoms-and-consider-any-single-atom-it-is/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [You can never be wise unless you love reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/you-can-never-be-wise-unless-you-love-reading/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [If our aim is to praise, we should forget to criticize; if our aim is to criticize, we should remember to praise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/if-our-aim-is-to-praise-we-should-forget-to-criticize-if-our-aim-is/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [All theory is against free will; all experience is for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/all-theory-is-against-free-will-all-experience-is-for-it/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Had I learned to fiddle, I should have done nothing else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/had-i-learned-to-fiddle-i-should-have-done-nothing-else/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [It is as foolish to make experiments upon the constancy of a friend, as upon the chastity of a wife.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/it-is-as-foolish-to-make-experiments-upon-the-constancy-of-a-friend/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Resolve not to be poor: whatever you have, spend less. Poverty is a great enemy to human happiness; it certainly destroys liberty, and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/resolve-not-to-be-poor-whatever-you-have-spend-less-poverty-is-a/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [The basis of all excellence is truth: he that professes love ought to feel its power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-basis-of-all-excellence-is-truth-he-that-professes-love-ought-to/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Words are daughters of earth but ideas are sons of heaven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/words-are-daughters-of-earth-but-ideas-are-sons-of-heaven/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“The composition of Shakespeare is a forest, in which oaks extend in the air, interspersed sometimes with weeds and brambles, and sometimes giving shelting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-composition-of-shakespeare-is-a-forest-in-which-oaks-extend-in/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“The cherubim were never intended as an object of worship, because they were only the appendices to another thing. But a thing is then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-cherubim-were-never-intended-as-an-object-of-worship-because-they/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Nobody has the right to put another under such a difficulty that he must either hurt the person by telling the truth or hurt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/nobody-has-the-right-to-put-another-under-such-a-difficulty-that-he/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [That kind of life is most happy which affords us most opportunities of gaining our own self-esteem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/that-kind-of-life-is-most-happy-which-affords-us-most-opportunities/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [The time will come to every human being when it must be known how well he can bear to die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-time-will-come-to-every-human-being-when-it-must-be-known-how/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) [Explore all 1,998 Samuel Johnson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) ## More Authorship quotes > [To write well is to think well, to feel well, and to render well; it is to possess at once intellect, soul, and taste.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-louis-leclerc-comte-de-buffon/to-write-well-is-to-think-well-to-feel-well-and-to-render-well-it-is/) [Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-louis-leclerc-comte-de-buffon/) > [A man starts upon a sudden, takes Pen, Ink, and Paper, and without ever having had a thought of it before, resolves within himself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-de-la-bruyere/a-man-starts-upon-a-sudden-takes-pen-ink-and-paper-and-without-ever/) [Jean de la Bruyere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-de-la-bruyere/) > [The writer, like a priest, must be exempted from secular labor. His work needs a frolic health; he must be at the top of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-writer-like-a-priest-must-be-exempted-from-secular-labor-his-work/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“If there's a will, there's a way! I feel larger than LIFE--and look up to the stars who shine down on me and have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-scrima-black/if-there-s-a-will-there-s-a-way-i-feel-larger-than-life-and-look-up/) Donna Scrima-Black > [“Every article and review and book that I have ever published has constituted an appeal to the person or persons to whom I should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/every-article-and-review-and-book-that-i-have-ever-published-has/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [ Ye who write, choose a subject suited to your abilities. \[Lat., Sumite materiam vestris, qui scribitis, aequam Viribus.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/ye-who-write-choose-a-subject-suited-to-your-abilities-lat-sumite/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Authorship, according to the spirit in which it is pursued, is an infancy, a pastime, a labor, a handicraft, an art, a science, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-wilhelm-von-schlegel/authorship-according-to-the-spirit-in-which-it-is-pursued-is-an/) [August Wilhelm Von Schlegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-wilhelm-von-schlegel/) > [Authorship has never been with me a matter of choice. I have not done it for amusement, or for money, or for fame, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-martineau/authorship-has-never-been-with-me-a-matter-of-choice-i-have-not-done/) [Harriet Martineau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-martineau/) > [So there's a lot of people tied into believing that the traditional response to the authorship question. In terms of actors, some people get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-rylance/so-there-s-a-lot-of-people-tied-into-believing-that-the-traditional/) [Mark Rylance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-rylance/) > [Our favorites are few; since only what rises from the heart reaches it, being caught and carried on the tongues of men wheresoever love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-bronson-alcott/our-favorites-are-few-since-only-what-rises-from-the-heart-reaches-it/) [Amos Bronson Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-bronson-alcott/) > [Subtract from many modern poets all that may be found in Shakespeare, and trash will remain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/subtract-from-many-modern-poets-all-that-may-be-found-in-shakespeare/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [ All these teachers and \[screenwriting\] books mean you see movies that have been worked over by more committees wielding more rules, that all originality… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-schrader/all-these-teachers-and-screenwriting-books-mean-you-see-movies-that/) [Paul Schrader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-schrader/) > [That author, however, who has thought more than he has read, read more than he has written, and written more than he has published,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/that-author-however-who-has-thought-more-than-he-has-read-read-more/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [To expect an author to talk as he writes is ridiculous; or even if he did you would find fault with him as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/to-expect-an-author-to-talk-as-he-writes-is-ridiculous-or-even-if-he/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [“Try to be someone upon whom nothing is lost!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-james/try-to-be-someone-upon-whom-nothing-is-lost/) [Henry James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-james/) [Browse all 190 Authorship quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/authorship/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "People may be taken in once, who imagine that an author is greater in private life than other men.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Samuel Johnson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/people-may-be-taken-in-once-who-imagine-that-an-author-is-greater-in/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Authorship" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/people-may-be-taken-in-once-who-imagine-that-an-author-is-greater-in/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/90d/samuel-johnson-50_authorship_people-may-be-taken-in-once-who-imagine_2465823.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/90d/samuel-johnson-50_authorship_people-may-be-taken-in-once-who-imagine_2465823.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/90d/samuel-johnson-50_authorship_people-may-be-taken-in-once-who-imagine_2465823.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“People may be taken in once, who imagine that an author is greater in private life than other men.” — Samuel Johnson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Samuel Johnson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "People may be taken in once,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/people-may-be-taken-in-once-who-imagine-that-an-author-is-greater-in/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/people-may-be-taken-in-once-who-imagine-that-an-author-is-greater-in/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```